Five takeaways on climate crisis as Earth Week ends
Writer Elizabeth Kolbert traces its history, present, and future in a new book
Elizabeth Kolbert’s latest book on climate change will surprise readers: It’s an illustrated book aimed at adults.
The New Yorker writer — who lives in Williamstown — is known for her lucid analysis of global warming. But instead of delivering another lengthy magazine article or book, she chose an approach that makes the complex topic accessible.
The result is “H is For Hope” — which traces the history, present, and future of climate change from A to Z. Each letter offers statistics and insights on the devastating impacts of climate change.
Kolbert is this week’s guest on Globe Opinion’s “Say More with Shirley Leung.” Listen at globe.com/saymore and wherever you find your podcasts.
With this being Earth Week, here are our five takeaways from the conversation. We had fun with letters too.
E is for EVERYTHING
Kolbert said she chose an A-to-Z format because “climate change is not one story.” There are millions of stories about climate change, and no matter how deeply you explore the topic, you’re only getting part of the picture. By presenting a wide range of topics, from engineering solutions to social science to geopolitics, Kolbert aims to give every reader at least one way to connect to this issue. Once they can find that connection, they can figure out how they fit into the solution.
“Everyone’s attention is being fought over, and I have lived with this issue long enough to tell you very quickly and succinctly that it is, if not the biggest problem in the world today, it is very, very close to it,” she said. “It is coming for everyone.”
A is for ARRHENIUS
Kolbert starts her book with a piece about Svante Arrhenius, a 19th-century Swedish chemist. With thousands of math calculations, Arrhenius tested a theory connecting atmospheric CO2 levels with the rise and fall of historic ice ages. With these tests, he was able to create the world’s first climate model.
“People knew there had been several ice ages in the relatively recent past, and they were searching for answers as to why,” she said. “[Arrhenius] came up with this theory that it was due to changing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And he set out to prove that mathematically. He was missing crucial bits of information, but it turned out that he was very close to what modern supercomputers would [now] say.”
R is for REALITY
Scratch Mars off your list of climate change solutions. No matter what happens on earth’s climate system, our home planet is the best shot the human
nd race has for survival. Fantasies about vast populations of people living on Mars are a distraction from the real and present danger facing our planet.
Earth, for all its problems, has breathable air. Not something you can say for our planetary neighbors.
“We evolved to live on earth. Really almost no matter what we did, it would still be an easier place for humans to live on than Mars,” she said. “Because [on Mars] there’s no air pressure. Now imagine living with no air pressure. Your full body would explode. So you can’t go outside. It’s basically insane to think that we can live on Mars.”
T is for THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE
Kolbert’s new book contains some statistics that drive home the immensity of the climate crisis, and what our future could look like if we don’t change course. For example, humans have added more CO2 to the atmosphere over the last 30 years as they have over the last 30,000 years. In Kolbert’s chapter about weather, she says the number of weather disasters have surged from an average of three a year in the 1980s to 28 last year.
“We just keep breaking records year after year. Now is this going to be the wake up call?” said Kolbert. “I am old enough to remember after [Hurricane] Katrina, people said, ‘Is this the wakeup call?’ After Superstorm Sandy, ‘Is this a wakeup call?’ These are alarm bells going off. But unfortunately, it seems like people are quite dug in, so it’s very difficult to break through that.”
H is for HUMAN NATURE
As serious as the climate crisis is, Kolbert acknowledged that it’s hard to get people to care. Journalists can do a better job by helping people understand the ways that climate change and its solutions connect to the things people care about most — whether that be your local flora and fauna, your favorite foods, or your children (and your children’s children.)
Kolbert cites a recent study that said the best way to unite people in these fraught political times is to focus on protecting what we love.
“That really speaks to people in New England,” she added. “We live in a beautiful part of the world, and there are many things that we all value, from the shore to the Berkshires to the White Mountains. We need to protect what we love.”